Rose And Release
by PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM
Summary: AU(sorta)! In a parallel universe, Rinoa is a depressed 16 year old high school student who has suddenly gained the power of 'Witch' from the Rinoa in the other dimension. Squall, a dear friend, is forced to hold her secret and protect her. SQUINOA!
1. Piano Wire

Summary AU(sorta)! In a parallel universe, Rinoa is a depressed 16 year old high school student who has suddenly gained the power of 'Witch' from the Rinoa in the other dimension. Squall, a dear friend, is forced to hold her secret and protect her. SQUINOA!

Author's Note: I'm a new author... yep... anyways, this story was actually the author, x20 Vision's creation. Well, the plot at least. She didn't want to write it so she passed it on to me. ^ ____ ^ Now I have a story to write. 

**~* Rose and Release *~**

_Chapter ONE: Piano Wire_

_****_

Squall pushed the door bell in. The sound that emerged rung through the house before him. He placed his hands in his pockets and waited as he shifted his weight about. The door swung open on him unexpectedly. He was ready to greet his friend Rinoa but instead saw her younger sister.

"Oh! Hello Squally!" She cried.

"Hey." He greeted, not wanting to talk to the little monster. 

"Please come in! Mother says it's frightfully rude to leave guests outside." She reminded him. She ripped his hand from his pocket and grabbed it in her own. She led him inside and to a couch. She pushed him down into the seat and she took a seat directly across from him. "Sorry about the wait. Rinoa told me last night that she wanted to make you late." She told him, trying to reverse Squall's loyalty. She tried to do this every morning. It was totally obvious to Squall that she was lying. 

"Or you just turned off her alarm." He suggested.

"No! I would never do that." She shot back, sounding hurt.

"Whatever." He said, giving up as he heard the small footsteps of Rinoa coming down the stairs behind him. He stood and turned around to find her rushing down the stairs.

"I'm so sorry. SOMEONE turned my alarm off!" Rinoa yelled, severely emphasizing on the word 'someone'. She gave her younger sister a death glare as she stepped next to Squall.

"We might be late." Squall warned as he looked to his watch. 

"Damn." Rinoa cursed as she hurried out the door.

"Rinoa swore!" Her sister exclaimed. "I'm telling Dad." Rinoa rolled her eyes but left anyways. Squall closed the door behind her and raced ahead of her towards his car. He opened the passenger door for her and she smiled at him and mouthed a thank you as she blushed furiously. He smiled at how cute she was acting with him and closed the door. He jogged for the drivers side and got in. He started the car up and they drove off to school.

"Your sister gets worse every passing day." Squall noted as he made a turn down a street. 

"I know. The more we don't succumb to her 'schemes' the more she pesters us." She told him as she pulled a hair clip from her pocket and placed it in her hair.

"Punch her. Then she'll stop." Squall suggested darkly.

"I wish I could. I dream about it, but I could never. Dad would hate me even more." She warned. 

"It's hard to believe that he could hate you even more." Squall noted with shock. 

"It's possible. He holds back most of his anger, other wise I'd wind up dead." She noted depressingly. He saw her face drop even further then it had. 

"Lets change the subject." Squall noted. She nodded and complied. 

"You seem pretty happy today, go on any dates?" Rinoa asked as she looked to him. 

"Do I look happy?" He asked with a deep voice, trying to push back any happy thoughts. 

"When we go to the car you were being uncharacteristically caring." Rinoa reminded with a wink. 

"I was just being nice." He told her, wanting to finish this conversation in a hurry. 

"Oh." Rinoa said, not knowing what else to say. "You know..." She began as she looked away from him. "You can tell me anything." She reminded him. 

"I know." He said with a heavy sigh. 

"What's wrong?" Rinoa asked, noting the sigh. 

"It's nothing." He replied. 

"But Squall-" She was about to finish her sentence until Squall's voice cut her off. 

"We're here." He said as he parked and hastily stepped out of the car, leaving Rinoa inside. 

"Squall..." She sighed sadly. She stepped out of the car and jogged after the retreating Squall. 

"What time is it?" Squall asked as she came up beside him. 

"Eight-"She couldn't finish her answer as she felt a foot pressed against her ankle. She fell forward, but caught herself with her hands before she hit her face. 

"Klutz." A blonde man said with a laugh. The group around him laughed and looked at Rinoa with sneering faces. Squall bent down and helped her up and picked up her belongings that had fallen out. Once they had picked everything up and put it into her bag they turned to the offender. 

"Get a life, Seifer." Squall said with a glare. 

"Ouch!" Seifer mocked, his group laughed at the lame joke. Rinoa rolled her eyes and the two walked away. "Stupid bitch and her bodyguard..." They heard Seifer say. Rinoa sighed heavily and held her bag tighter to her. 

"I hope they die..." Rinoa mumbled. Squall rubbed her back in a vain effort to comfort her. 

"It's okay." Squall insisted as he rubbed her back some more. While Rinoa couldn't quite put her finger on it, there was something comforting about Squall's touch. 

"Hey Squall." A blonde girl giggled with a tiny wave as they walked past her. He looked up and she winked at him. He immediately looked away from her a tiny blush on his face. 

"What's wrong?" Rinoa asked, looking from Squall to the blonde haired girl. "It was just Quistis." Rinoa noted with confusion. 

"I know. Just thought of something I forgot." He lied. She knew it was a lie. The way his eyes dilated, the way his nostril's flared. Rinoa ignored it none the less, she was afraid to pry into it. "Need to stop at your locker?" He asked, changing the subject quickly. 

"No. I have everything. Do you need to stop by yours?" She asked looking to him out of the corner of her eyes. 

"No. I've got everything." He answered. He seemed so distant to Rinoa some how. The second they stepped out of the car, another him took over. 

"Are you okay?" She asked, trying to get something from him. 

"I'm fine." He answered. "This is my class. See yah." Squall said hastily and turned into an open door, room 203. 

"Bye..." She mumbled to no one with a weak wave. 

As Squall closed the door behind him he sighed. He hated this. He wanted to hang out with Rinoa so badly... but didn't want everyone else to think he was real friends with her. 

"Hey Squall." A cheerful voice sprung up. A head appeared in his line of vision to the floor. The girl had a bright smile and even brighter eyes. She had curly hair that bobbed ever so slightly and shimmered with the florescent lights above. 

"Hi Selphie." He greeted as he pushed away from the door, causing her to move away as well. 

"Was that Rinoa you were talking with?" She asked as she looked around him to the fuzzy window that portrayed the hall. 

"So?" He asked, ready to take up defense. 

"Just wondering." Selphie said, taking up her hands in her defense. "She's so nice. But so quiet." She noted curiously. "Wonder why everyone picks on her." 

"Just drop the subject." Squall demanded as he walked to his desk and tossed his stuff to the ground beside him. Selphie gave him a quizzical stare, but did as he said and took her seat next to him. 

"So... your still being Rinoa's stupid bodyguard." A mocking voice said from the entrance of the class. The two looked up, but they didn't need to, they knew who it was. 

"Fuck off Seifer." Selphie demanded with a menacing glare. 

"No. But Squall wants to go off and fuck Rinoa. I can see it in his eyes." Seifer sneered with a laugh as he slammed his hands down on Squall's desk. Squall's hand sprang forward and grabbed Seifer's collar and thrust his face close to his, his fist near by. 

"You better shut the FUCK up or I'll pound your damn face in." Squall warned. Seifer just pushed him off with a smug smirk. 

"Your threats don't scare me, Leonhart." Seifer told him as he walked away. "Neither does anything else you do." He said with a laugh as he took his seat at the back the class. Quistis was the next person to walk in. She smiled at Squall and he, uncharacteristically, smiled back. She walked to his desk, bent down and kissed him on the side of the lips tenderly. She slipped him a note as she pulled away. The cover read To Squall, From Quistis. He opened it up and read the letter silently. 

_Thanks for last night Squall. Hope we can do it again sometime.   
Love,   
Quistis._

He crumpled the letter up, blew Quistis a kiss and shoved it into his bag. She winked back at him, seductively. Selphie watched with curiousity and with a bit of concern. But she decided to ignore it as the teacher walked through the door and greeted the class in his usual manner. 

"Hello class. I hope you all prepared for the test today." He hoped with a smile. The class stereotypically groaned but brought out their number two pencils none-the-less... 

Rinoa walked into her class as she fiddled through her bag to find her homework from the night before. She continued to rummage, sure she was to find it as she walked to her desk. Before she could actually get in any progress she felt a foot come in contact with her ankle once more. She felt herself fall forward and she was bracing herself for impact but she was instead caught in someone's arms. She looked up to see who her protector was and found Irvine. He smiled down at her and she smiled right back in thanks. Irvine cast his gaze away and turned to the person who had tripped her. Irvine's glare showed the very image of death. 

"You need to get a life, Raijin." Irvine seethed. Raijin rolled his eyes and put his arms behind his head. 

"Piss off, Cow poke!" Raijin exclaimed with disgust, making sure to mock Irvine's style as he kicked Irvine in the shin. Irvine scowled but the two walked away anyways. They took their seats next to each other. 

"Why don't you just tell them off?" Irvine asked, his violence ready to explode all over Raijin. 

"You're kidding right?" Rinoa asked with a slight laugh. "They'd only pick on me more." She reminded him as she placed her bag on her desk and began to rummage for her homework once again. 

"The reason they're picking on you is because they know you're afraid of them." He said, putting a hand to the corner of her desk. 

"I'm not afraid." She said, her eyes narrowing a bit as her thoughts drifted from her rummaging and to Seifer and his posse. Her sifting became slower. 

"Then why don't you stand up to them?" He asked, a bit frustrated. She didn't answer, only continued to sift through the assortment of school works. "Tell me." He coaxed. She still did not answer. Irvine knew she was lying, she was scared of them. He couldn't exactly blame her though. They'd been picking on her since she was young. Irvine casted his eyes away and to his desk, seeing the pain enter Rinoa's fragile eyes. 

After school Rinoa walked to Squall's car in silence and depression. After Irvine's talk with her she couldn't help but feel helpless and cowardly. She grabbed the shoulder straps of her pack and pulled them far out and felt the material of the bag rise to her neck. Her eyes fell the pavement below and she was ready to cry. She had been ready to cry all day. She couldn't wait to get to her room and break down. 

She heard the hard slap of shoes against the pavement behind her and as soon as she came to realize who's they were a hand was shoved into her shoulder and she was sent hurling to the ground. She didn't have time to pull her hands from their positions and ended up slamming the side of her face into the cement, scratching it. She couldn't take it anymore and broke down into tears as her scraped and bloody hands pushed her body off the ground. She was to weak from crying and the entire shock of falling to even pick herself up. With her arms supporting her upper body she let the tears streak down her face, past the bloody scrapes that had just recently been created and let the tears of pain fall to the ground... 

The ride home with Squall had been in total silence. Rinoa was still shaken up over her previous incident and the tears still poured down but not in sobs. She got out of the car and, in trembling steps, walked into her house. She didn't announce she was home and she knew that no one cared either way. 

When she opened the door to her room she found it practically destroyed. There were writings on the wall with words like 'fucking bitch', 'cock sucker', 'dumb slut'. She could tell by the hand writing it was her sister's doing. She looked about the rest of her room. Her clothes were thrown everywhere and/or ripped into pieces. Her bed was jumbled into a jungle of sheets and the mattress was tossed off to the side. Her computer's screen was smashed in. Her closet's sliding doors were splintered and had been pushed out of place. Her picture frames had been smashed and the pictures inside were tattered and torn. 

Rinoa looked about the travesty with sullen face and eyes. She didn't care anymore. She bent down to her mattress and lifted it up and placed the sheets accordingly. She threw her pack across the room, smashing it into the broken closet causing them to splinter more. She fell into her bed with complete mental exhaustion. Her teary eyes quickly focused on the scissors stabbed into the night stand next to her bed. Her eyes followed the cool blade and ideas floated through her head. Wonderful ideas. Ideas that looked... inviting. 

She sat up and reached for the scissors with trembling hands. Her index finger lightly encircled itself around the plastic handle and her other fingers followed. They weakly pulled. The item did not budge. She pulled harder. Nothing. She brought another hand to help. She pulled... and pulled but nothing came of it. The item would not budge. She tugged harder and harder and harder until her frustration hit its bursting point. She let out a frustrated growl and its pitch and volume increased with every passing second. Her pulls became more and more violent. She finally let out a scream of frustration and slammed her hands into the night stand. Again she slammed her hands into it. and again. and again. She let the tears flow and the sobs control her. 

"GOD DAMMIT!!" She screamed. "GOD DAMMIT!!!" She screamed again, even more fiercely. "WHY AM I SO FUCKING USELESS!?!?!?" She screamed as her body became weak with emotion. "WHY CAN'T I STAND UP FOR MYSELF?!!? WHY CAN'T I STOP HATING MYSELF?!?!?!?!" She screamed in frustration as tears continued to poor. She stopped her relentless outbursts to let her sobs get the better of her. Too many things were reeling in her head and they were reeling to fast. She slammed her hands into the nightstand again and the sobs increased. 

As her sobs increased so did a certain music she had previously blocked from her mind. Rinoa tried to control her sobs for the briefest of seconds to hear the bizarre music. Piano. It was not from the radio, or tape, or CD... she could tell. But the piano they had was never used. Not even her mother used it and she was an expert at such musical wonders. Her father had labeled the piano cursed after a stray piano wire snapped and slashed his cheek. But what did father know? Nothing. 

The song was harmonic and somewhat hypnotizing. Rinoa ceased her sobs, stood from her bed on shaky legs and walked out to the hall. She could see over the stair's railing the family room where the piano lied. No one was there. Maybe it was a CD, maybe she was mistaken. She headed downstairs and as she approached the piano, the louder it became. She stared at it for the longest of times and began to feel her heart race as the idea of haunts in her home flew through her mind. She quickly dismissed the idea and hurried to the kitchen... but as she moved away the sound decreased. She looked back, a worried look on her face, a terrified look. She saw the piano keys moving all by themselves. 

"MOM!!" Rinoa screamed, her eyes locked on the piano. "MOOOM!!!!" She screamed again, more frantic. She took her eyes off the piano and scanned the vicinity. No one was there. No one heard her cry. 

"You can scream and you can scream," A voice commented. "... but no one will come." The disembodied voice finished. Rinoa felt her heartbeat race and imagined her face turning pallid. She brought her shaky hands to her necklace with its single ring and grasped it lightly. 

"Who.. Who are you?" She asked, scared of the answer. She had never truly believed in ghosts.. but she understood that now was the time to start. 

The piano continued its lovely tune. 

"Just... an apparition." The voice said. Rinoa couldn't place the voice with anyone she knew. This was no prank... but she didn't want to believe the possible reality of this situation. 

"Why are you here?" She asked, wanting to run and hide. 

"Just dropping by." It said, nonchalantly. Rinoa's breath became quaking gasps. 

"What do you want with us?" She asked as she gripped her ring tightly. 

"'Us'?" The voice questioned. "It's a 'me' I'm after." 

"Then what do you want with me?" She asked as she rubbed the silver chain nervously. She felt a soft pressure against her back and gasped in sheer horror. 

"Why do you cry?" The voice asked. 

"What?" Rinoa asked, a bit dumbfounded by the extremely arbitrary question. 

"Why do you cry?" It asked again. 

"... I'm sad." Rinoa finally answered. 

"Don't be sad." The voice comforted in a soothing voice. Rinoa felt comfortable for the first time that night. Comfortable that she could talk to someone who wouldn't humiliate her or harass her. She could be best friends with a ghost. "You can be sad other times." The voice said. 

"What am I supposed to be now?" She asked as her grip loosened from the rings 

"..." The voice paused as she felt strong arms drape over her shoulders. She looked down and found transparent, masculine arms clothed with their high school's uniform. She felt the slow, steady breathing of someone on her neck. The breathing slowly moved its way up to her ear and then to the edge of her forehead. Her eyes glanced over, scared once again, and she caught sight of the apparitions jaw and sly smile. Her eyes wanted to continue to view the face but brunette hair covered his eyes and most of his nose. 

"Do you like to be sad?" The masculine voice asked. 

"No." Rinoa said in a quiet voice. The hands found themselves a position just under her breasts and rested themselves there. She felt the ghost's chest push to her back as if they were in an embrace. 

"Then how do you like to act?" The voice asked, calmly and coolly. It was a question Rinoa had never been asked and never even thought of... How _did_ she like to act? 

"I... I don't know." Came her shaky answer. One hand removed itself from its position and she heard the unsheathing of something. The hand returned to its former position, this time with a long, thin, glimmering sword in hand. The hand made extra effort to point it out and away from Rinoa. While everything else was translucent about him, the sword was not. Rinoa made the tiniest of gasps as she pushed herself into the ghosts chest. 

"Someone... someone is calling out to you...." The ghost whispered into her ear with heated breath which made her heart hammer. 

_Rinoa..._

_What happened to you?_

_You were so full of life...._

The voice sounded familiar... and yet she could not place it. 

"Who is it?" She asked. 

"You cannot tell?" The voice asked, surprised. "You surprise me friend." The voice said with a laugh. He extended the sword in front of her so that it was pointing straight at her chest. "You really should play the piano more often..." He said with a dead serious voice. He thrust the sword into her chest and she let out a scream of pain. The sword exited through the middle of her back, between her shoulder blades. She grabbed the hilt of it with her trembling hands and the sword began to glow and even more pain seeped into her body. She threw her head back and screamed in anguish at this torture. Blood poured from the two open wounds and began to create a giant puddle around her. And after no more than 10 seconds of the pain, her knees buckled, her eyes fluttered and her knees fell into the puddle of blood. Her eyes finally shut and she fell to her side as the apparition disappeared into nothingness. 

Rinoa shot up from her sleeping position in her bed, holding her necklace's ring tightly. Her hair was matted with cold sweat and her whole body was drenched with it. She could feel the tears that had previously fallen in her sleep and she sighed in relief that it was all just a dream. She looked about her room and found it was still just the same agonizing mess it was when she got home the other day but the morning had come none the less. She was still in her school uniform she realized just as she stepped out of her bed. She looked to her bed to see just how messy it was from the tossing and turning last night but found it wasn't all to bad... save for the gigantic blood stain just a few inches below her pillow. Immediately she recalled the sword being driven through her and her breathing increased its speed. She looked to her uniform and on her chest lied a similar blood stain. 

"... oh my god..." She whispered as she bit her finger tips lightly and looked about her room, panicked. Knowing what to do next, she unbuttoned her blouse to see the gigantic wound... but there was none. Nothing there at all. She collapsed to her floor and pulled her knees to her chest. She gently placed her face into her knees and began to cry and laugh.... 

*** 

a/n: Oh god... this really really sucks... 

review please 


	2. Swarm Habitat Much Partake

Disclaimer: Me no own Final Fantasy 8. Square Enix own. Tu eres un gato...

~* **Rose And Release *~**

_Chapter TWO: Swarm Habitat Much Partake_

_****_

When Squall came to Rinoa's door that morning, her sister was nowhere to be found. Rinoa figured she had gone to school early for one reason or another, either way she was gone. 

Rinoa swung her door open, revealing Squall standing there a wry smile on his face and his hands jammed into his pockets. 

"Ready?" He asked as he pulled his hands out of his pockets and placed them to his hips. Something about his smile made her feel uncomfortable... something in her stomach turned as she continued to stare at it. As soon as he noticed this, his expression changed into one of confusion. "Is there something on my face?" He asked, perplexed as he began to viscously wipe his face with the back of his sleeve. 

"No-nothing..." Rinoa stuttered as she looked to her feet. "I just need to get my pack." She mumbled as she jogged off into the house. Squall looked to the floor and narrowed his eyes in confusion. 

Rinoa returned in a matter of seconds, her pack on her back as she brushed past Squall and to his car. His eyes followed her as she walked steadily to his car parked on the curb. She looked back to him as she neared it and gave him a questionable look.

"Are we going or not?" She called as she waved her hand lightly, attempting to get more of his attention.

"Yeah!" He called with a laugh as he jogged up to the driver's side of the car as Rinoa got in. He started the car up and drove off.

There was a moment of silence, estrangement floating in the midst. 

"Somethin' wrong?" Squall asked as he stopped at a red light. Rinoa was quiet for a moment, as if lost in thought. "Hello?" Squall questioned strongly as he waved a hand in front of her eyes. She blinked, realizing reality. She looked to him and gave him a petite smile. "Anything wrong?" He asked again. She did an odd shake of her head... it was more like a minor spasm than anything. A mix of a nod and shake. 

"I don't know." Came her final answer. 

"Thought so..." Squall mumbled. "You're hard to read." Once more, there was that estranged silence.

"Last night...." Rinoa began and Squall listened attentively. "I had a dream."

"And?" Squall urged, curious about her dream.

"I was hurt." She finished. Squall remained silent, expecting to hear more. She didn't continue though and the rest of the car ride was silent. When they arrived at school, Squall parked his car in the parking lot, like every morning.

"We're here." He said with a smile as he looked to her. He pulled his keys out, but, the keys fell to the floor of the car below. Squall tutted to himself for his own buttery fingers. Rinoa looked to him as he picked it up... his hair, brunette, covered his eyes and a small smirk appeared on his lips. Her dream guy. Instantly, pain ripped through Rinoa's chest. She screamed out and, in surprise, Squall bashed his head against the steering wheel.

"Shit! What's wrong!?" Squall asked, honestly worried. 

"My... chest!" Rinoa managed to say through the maze of pain that filled her. Squall immediately, and delicately, began to remove the top buttons of her school uniform. Just above her bra was the emblem of a rose. It was red and glowing only slightly. "What the... fuck?" Squall mumbled under his breath as Rinoa clung to her seat in pain, her fingers digging into the material. She bit her lip tightly to hold back the scream of pain that wanted to release itself. As instantly had the pain began, the pain stopped. Rinoa fell forward slightly and breathed heavily, sweat on her face. 

"Oh my god..." She mumbled. She lightly touched her chest and felt no trace of any form of pain. She began to laugh, as if she had dreamt the pain. 

"What the hell's so funny!?" Squall exclaimed, not amused at the previous scenario. "Did you just make that WHOLE thing up!?" He exclaimed, pissed. 

Rinoa immediately protested. "NO! I... I don't know what it was... Did you see anything?" She asked, her worried expression returning. Squall's thoughts immediately flashed to the glowing red rose, he looked directly into her eyes. 

"No." He said, pretending to be honest. "There was nothing." He said, putting on the facade of confusion. 

"How strange..." Rinoa mumbled in wonder. "Well, no use in worrying about it now." She said with a smile as she stepped out of the car. Squall bit his lip... he'd tell her after school. 

As the bell for the next class rang Rinoa exited the classroom like the rest of the students and walked to her next class. As she rounded the corner, someone rammed into her, full speed. She dropped her things. Papers, books and binders were scattered. She cursed under her breath and began the process of picking everything up as she was about to finish she noticed the halls had cleared out considerably, she knew the passing period was to soon end. She cursed once more as she hurried her things together and was about to run off when the bell rang, signaling her destined tardiness. She rolled her eyes and continued her jog, but before she could get very far the searing pain from earlier this morning penetrated her being. She cried out and fell to the ground, she dropped her things but they did not spill about her. She picked herself up from the ground and rested on her knees, holding her shirt and twisting it violently. The tears wetted her face and her random shouts of pain hurt her throat. The pain increased its volume and Rinoa closed her eyes and let the darkness take her in. Her body fell forward and onto the cool, dirty, floor... 

_Another bump..._

_and another..._

_and another and another and another..._

_Her arms were draped around someone. She felt the persons gloved hands grasp onto the back of her thighs. Her head rested on the persons neck and she secretly felt at peace. The person's skin was so warm and smelled of musk that her senses delighted to. She felt her cheeks redden...._

_She opened her eyes and the world revealed itself to her. They were on a bridge... crossing the waters, accented orange by the amazing setting sun. _

_"I want to be your prince." said a rough voice. "Your knight..." The voice continued. She felt herself blush furiously. "Protect you from the world.... I want to be your prince." The boy finished. She closed her eyes and listened to the boy's calming breathing and fell into a deep sleep..._

Rinoa's eyes opened with a flash and she threw her body up. Her eyes darted around, finding the school's nurses office. She was no longer with her prince, or on the magical bridge surrounded by the surreal ocean and sun. Now she was in a dark room that screamed uncomfortable and indeed she was. 

She moved her legs off the make shift bed and sighed as she placed a hand to her head. Instantly, she recalled why she was here in the first place. She had passed out from the pain, the pain in her chest. She stood, found her bag and books on a nearby chair. She looked around the small room and found no nurse, nor anyone else for that matter. She decided to leave the room in pursuits of the current time. When she stepped into the halls, they were deserted, just as she had seen them when she first fainted. She jogged through the halls, anxious of the clock's answer. She couldn't find one anywhere in the halls. It was still day out so she assumed classes were in session and didn't want to barge in and ask 'what's the time?'. She sighed and stepped out into the peaceful quad that connected the two main buildings of the high school. 

The quad was peaceful, but usually only during class hours. Otherwise it was a bustling hub-bub of activity. The student body ate lunch here, talked her, basically everything outside of class was done here. The occasional illegal drink or drug was found down ones throat or up ones nose... but only on the rare occasion. At the front of the quad was an overhang that protected the students from nature when walking from building to building. It was elaborately decorated if only for an overhang, as if it had served another purpose in a previous lifetime. Plants and shrubberies extended off the top 'gutters' and spiraled and twirled around the poles lodged to the earth. The over hang was long and from far away it could have looked like the hanging gardens of Babylon. The roof of it was not slanted, like it should be but instead was flat, as if a bridge. And a bridge it could have very well been as it was thick enough, wide enough, and long enough. But what would a bridge be used for here? 

Rinoa looked to her hands for a moment and flicked her fingers about. The sun warmed them comfortably as her hands had been seemingly cold all day, probably from the experience in the morning and the fainting scenario. 

"So..." A voice began, quite tauntingly in front of her. She lifted her head and found Seifer staring at her with shallow eyes and a placid smile. A long, thin sword glistened in his hand. She eyed the sword with horror, afraid as the blade began to slowly turn and reflect strong beams of light into her face. "Little girl has gotten lost?" He mocked with the same expression. 

"Seifer...?" She questioned, surprised he was wielding this sword. She attempted to stand but the sword flew up and pointed to her, threateningly, the sharp tip pointed to her chest. Rinoa took the hint and took her seat. 

"Lost... little girl?" He asked, once more, the sword now pointed to her head. 

"I.. I just came to get some fresh air." Rinoa told him, looking to the ground so as to not provoke him further. She knew Seifer hated her, but not to this extent. Not to kill her. 

"Got lost... and ended up in Babylon's Quad?" Seifer questioned, a tad skeptical. 

"Babylon's Quad?" Rinoa questioned. 

"Haven't you noticed?" He began. His shifted his sword to the direction of the over hang. "Babylon's Gardens." He explained. She immediately understood. "Where's your Prince... your Knight?" He asked, returning the sword's point to her forehead. 

"Who?" She asked. Her mind instantly recalled the dream, but she shook the idea away. 

"Anytime now." Was all he said. There were moments of silence as Seifer and Rinoa stared at each other, their eyesight unwavering. But to break their contact was the opening of the double doors from the left building. Their eye line shifted to the intrusion. It was Squall, now out of breath. 

"Shit! There you are Rinoa! What are you-" He was about to continue his rant until his gaze fell upon Seifer and his threatening sword. "What the fuck is going on here?" He mumbled as he stepped closer to the two. His mumbled question was inaudible to the two due to the distance. As he neared them, he asked again. "What the hell's going on!?" He exclaimed, now demanding. 

"Something inside me has been tugging for the longest of times. I've wanted Rinoa so badly... but I could never have her as she is yours." Seifer admitted. Rinoa blushed furiously and Squall seethed as his fists clenched. 

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Squall yelled, stepping ever closer to Seifer. Seifer threw his sword between Squall and him, the tip pointed to Squall's heart. 

"A woman..." Seifer began. "... told me she can lead me to a castle high in the sky, supported by chains over a pit of nothingness. Inside the castle..." He paused. "She said that I had to wait and accomplish this task before I could visit her and find out was is inside." 

"For all you know that could be some crazy drunken, coked up, hippie lady!" Squall backfired. Seifer glared and took a step forward and his arm locked its position. 

"She will be mine." Seifer told him, referring to Rinoa. "Unsheathe your sword and let us begin." Seifer instructed as if it was obvious. 

"What sword? Are you high on something!?" Squall exclaimed. Seifer, now infuriated, pointed to Rinoa. Instantly, her forehead lit with a blue aura. She stood in surprise and as soon as she did, she felt faint. She was about to collapse backwards but Squall caught her. His left arm under her back, his right hovering over her body. The blue aura on her forehead materialized into the handle of a sword. He hesitated on what to do.... to pull? Or not? Seeing Seifer's patience thin rapidly, he gently grabbed the hilt in his hand and he felt the sword loosen. He pulled and a long, glittering sword emerged from Rinoa's forehead. Rinoa fluttered her eyes a bit in a waking state. Squall placed her gently back to the bench and she felt dizzy once again. Squall was amazed... what the hell was going on? But he played along with Seifer's game anyways. 

"Well then... shall we?" Seifer asked as he sheathed his sword into his belt and began to climb the Ivy entwined pole to the top of the 'Babylon' overhang. Squall followed, now royally pissed at Seifer for his cracked up talked. 

Once at the top Squall prepped himself and smiled a bit at the pure excitement of the chance to kick Seifer's ass, with a sword no less. 

"Ready?" Seifer asked, over confident as he took a fighting stance. 

"Of course. More ready than you'll ever be." Squall said, taking any chance to taunt him. Seifer smirked and rushed forward, Squall looked in alarm at the charging Seifer. He wasn't expecting this sudden onslaught of violence from Seifer. 

Squall quickly brought his sword up in defense. Seifer's sword collided with Squall's with a loud clang and Squall pushed him off. Seifer readied himself quickly and charged again, now predicting his move Squall ran forward a bit, sword pointed dead ahead. Squall angled his sword just as Seifer came into range. Squall pushed his sword against Seifer's, sending Seifer to his right. Squall dashed past, cutting Seifer's shoulder without hesitation. Seifer winced in pain, but kept the duel going. Seifer charged again, as predicted but instead of his sword ahead of him, he held it over his right shoulder, in preparation for a slash. Squall, himself, charged forward, his sword extended to Seifer's neck. As the two met, Seifer brought his attack around which knocked Squall to the left and Seifer brought up his sword again to slash Squall into nothingness....... 

****

I wanted to make a good cliffhanger... but I didn't know where to end it. So.. this is better than nothing I guess..

a/n: I found the perfect song to write this to so it's real easy for me to write at the moment... but 'At Times, Love Can Be...' might not be up for a bit. 


End file.
